1846.] PUEBLO OF CAGAYANCILLO. 93 



reaching the Pueblo, which bears the name of Cagayan- 

 cillo, about noon. 



Upon a small peninsula jutting from the bay, and in a 

 very commanding position, is situated the fort, and within 

 it the .church. It is a high walled parallellogram, en 

 barbet, evidently of Spanish construction, and has several 

 small brass guns or swivels, but not a serviceable carriage. 

 The flagstaff bore what I suspect to be a tablecloth, cer- 

 tainly not the national colours of Spain; and as no 

 troops were present, and the place was not under the 

 control of any military character, some little doubt seems 

 to exist as to whom it is subject. The Alcalde Mayor, as 

 he styled himself, a jolly, good-natured character, who 

 managed our purchases, and made himself very useful, 

 acquainted me, that they were under the control of An- 

 tique, a town on the coast of Panay, nearly east from the 

 group, and that the Padre from that place occasionally 

 visited them. But subsequent information threw some 

 doubt upon this statement, as neither Cagayan nor the name 

 of the Padre could be found in the official Colonial List. 

 However, the greater part of them understand Spanish, and 

 as those belonging to the convents wrote it, as well as the 

 name of their priest, it may be safely assumed, as they 

 frequent the church, and acknowledge the Catholic reli- 

 gion, that they are not Moors (or Mahomedan), as some 

 have suggested. Their dialect is Bisayan, similar to that 

 in use on the coast of Panay. The principal part of the 

 village, which is concealed, and conveniently shaded by a 

 thick screen of Cocoa-nut, as well as garden trees of 

 close foliage, runs in a line parallel to the coast in a 

 single street, until reaching the sandy bay southerly of 



